The latest Antifa violence in Berkeley was disgusting. It was anti-American. It was evil. And it was totally preventable, were it not for a left-wing city government that implicitly deputized Antifa in its War on Free Speech.

This is part of a distressing trend of American law enforcement leaders abdicating their duty to protect the communities they are sworn to serve. The whole purpose of government is to secure the rights of the governed by enforcing the law and stopping lawbreakers. Instead, police in Baltimore, Portland, and, now, Berkeley stood by, permitting vicious thugs to commit criminal acts of violence.

But the failure of the city government to protect the rights of the people goes beyond an order for police to stand down. Berkeley police proactively attempted to strip the “right-wing” demonstrators of their First Amendment rights.

After Antifa mobs used the cover of a “Rally Against Hate” to seek out random people and brand them as “Nazis,” Mayor Arreguin praised the "more than 7,000 people who came out today to peacefully oppose bigotry, hatred and racism."

It is unclear if any racists showed up in Berkeley on Sunday. What is clear is that Berkeley’s police force was told to stand down as ultra-violent leftists committed brutal assaults. The mayor condemned the violence as “unacceptable” with his words, and yet his actions invited violence against innocent bystanders.

Now that same mayor is calling on the University of California, Berkeley to cancel its “Free Speech Week” (pause here and reflect on the ridiculousness of having just one week for free speech), ostensibly to prevent “these groups using large protests to create mayhem.” Instead of directing police to ensure that black-bloc goons don’t assault people, Mayor Arreguin wants to shut down a free speech event.
Berkeley’s government has taken a side. It is using the power of the state to silence the opposing side and boost the Left.

The city’s conduct leading up to, during, and following the violence is a complete disgrace. Berkeley leaders deemed one group unworthy of protection. Undeserving of freedom of speech. And in permitting Antifa thugs to run past barricades and beat people up, the mayor and police chief essentially deputized the mob to silence unsanctioned ideas and opinions. That not only violates the Constitution, but it assaults the fabric of our civil society.

Who are the real fascists? The “anti-Marxist” protesters? Or the leftists in government who infringe on the constitutional rights of Americans and stand by as violent mobs attack innocents to silence political opposition?

Any more of those pepper balls left? This guy deserves a double shot. Having had the misfortune of taking a couple of CUNY John Jay courses, I can testify that he's not the only one in that category either.

Here’s a name which has been getting a lot of play lately in the SJW edition of the news: Michael Isaacson. He popped up recently when John Sexton was exploring the question of whether or not Antifa was mostly comprised of a bunch of happy-go-lucky thrill seekers. Isaacson is a professor at the [City] University of New York’s John Jay College teaching (if you can believe it) future police officers in the field of Criminal Justice. Recently, the Daily Caller highlighted some of Professor Isaacson’s, shall we say… unique views on Antifa and non-peaceful protest.

Quote:Mike Isaacson, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a co-founder of the Antifa organization Smash Racism D.C., promotes political violence. In a series of tweets, he also laughed at dead police officers.

Isaacson shared his support of political violence in an interview with The Hill Thursday, which was pointed out by Far Left Watch. The article, which explores the Antifa movement and its proponents in academia, got a few choice quotes from the professor.

“The justification [of the use of violence] is that Nazi ideology at its very core is founded on violence and on wielding power by any means,” Isaacson said.

The DC article has plenty more where that came from, but his laughter at the idea of police officers being killed and his casual acceptance of the idea of criminal violence in the name of promoting social justice are certainly unusual for a criminal justice professor. Now, however, the situation has changed. Apparently as a result of the Daily Caller’s reporting, Mr. Isaacson has been placed on paid vacation. (Which is being described as a suspension with pay.)

Quote:Mike Isaacson, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice who made numerous jokes about dead cops and openly supports Antifa, has been placed on administrative leave by the school.

The college contacted The Daily Caller Friday with a statement from college president Karol V. Mason to announce that the professor has been placed on administrative leave following TheDC reporting on Isaacson’s comments. The report prompted users on social media to participate in a popular #FireMike Twitter hashtag calling for the college to take action against him.

“Many of you may be aware of recent statements made by a John Jay College adjunct on social media, television and in the press,” he wrote, and proceeded to denounce Isaacson’s statements.

“I want to state clearly that I was shocked by these statements. They are abhorrent. This adjunct expressed personal views that are not consistent with our college’s well known and firm values and principles and my own personal standards and principles,” he continued.

Administrators from all levels of CUNY are weighing in, most using various terms such as abhorrent, appalled, despicable and “vile expressions of hate or intimidation.” That’s an encouraging sign given what this individual has been feeding into the social media stream from such a lofty platform inside the education community, but it still leaves us with one glaring question.

Why is this man still on paid vacation?

I realize you need to conduct a fair and impartial investigation, but he’s been giving quotes to national newspapers and putting out non-retracted commentary on verifiable social media outlets. He’s making jokes about dead cops and explaining why it’s sometimes acceptable for vigilante justice to be the law of the land. And this guy is teaching students who are destined to go into law enforcement?

Is this just a tenure situation? Is there a teachers union out there which is powerful enough to rush to Isaacson’s defense and threaten the school if he is terminated? We don’t yet know the answers to these questions but it certainly seems at least plausible that an employer of a professor in this particular field might be able to simply fire him absent even the slightest suggestion that he didn’t actually make the comments.

The nation’s law enforcement organizations who rely on these schools to find recruits should weigh in on the situation quickly. I realize we live in an era of left-wing shock tactics and it’s hard to pick out which outrage of the day deserves the most condemnation, but this one should really be a no-brainer.